Being a referee is a thankless job. If you fail, you get all the criticism, but if you succeed, you get no praise.
In fact, if you’ve worked as a major league umpire for 30 years and no one knows your name, you’ve done a damn good job.
Of course, the margin for error in most jobs is relatively low. But people are allowed to make mistakes too. The difference is that you probably won’t get death threats if you enter the wrong number into an Excel spreadsheet.
Even though it’s safe to assume that referees have thick skin, we wouldn’t be ashamed to give the guys in blue a pat on the back every now and then if a special performance justifies it.
Umpire Gabe Morales called 99.4 percent of the throws correctly during the White Sox’s game against the Yankees on Tuesday. Out of 174 throws, Morales called just one incorrect throw, a throw that barely touched the bottom of the batter’s box.
To put it in context, since ump scorecards began tracking games, only one umpire, Pat Hoberg (who is currently suspended on gambling charges), has called a perfect game. That legendary feat came in Game 2 of the 2022 World Series.
Morales should not, however, get used to making headlines. News about referees is rare.
